Ladies, your transparent conversation is SOoooo refreshing. I’ve enjoyed every bit of our interaction so far, and can’t wait to read more. Last week, we discussed how interruption, well… interrupts our time with the Lord. Whether the distraction is of our own making, or from some kind of outside influence, interruption interferes with our God time and can be very frustrating.
On the other hand, we heard from a couple of you who talked about interruption as sometimes being orchestrated by the Lord to capture our attention. Certainly, we should be aware that the Lord can and will use any means He chooses to influence us to pursue His will, but how do we listen? How do we define His voice from everyday distraction? How do we listen distinctly for Him when the enemy would like nothing more than to sway our attention from our Father’s voice to his own?
Two words… The Word. Reading God’s love letter to us is one sure way we define the Father’s voice from the enemy’s. But if we are interrupted or distracted from our reading, how can we fill up on the Word? Think outside of the box, pray and allow the Lord to show you new, creative ways to hear and see His Word. And then, will you share your ideas with us? Perhaps you’ve already found an out-of-the-ordinary way to feed on the Word of God. Will you tell us what works for you?
We need His Word for so many reasons. To name just a very few…
· Luke 8:11 The seed is the Word of God.
· John 17:17 His Word is truth.
· Ephesians 6:17 The word of the Spirit which is the Word of God.
· Hebrews 4:12 The Word of God is living and active.
· 1 Peter 1:23 The Word of God is living and enduring.
· 1 John 2:5 In we obey His Word, God’s love is made complete in us.
· Rev. 19:13 His name is the Word of God.
This list is by no means, complete, but it declares the power of the Word, the aliveness of the Word, the Son of God of the Word, Jesus. Tell us, how do you saturate yourself in His Word everyday?
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Just recently, because of an idea that a blogger friend had, I have started meditating and memorizing scripture with the assistance of my creativity.
I write the verse. Write my thoughts about it or a paraphrase. Write it in another version. Write a prayer about it. Write the meaning of any words I want to understand better, (I use a Greek or Hebrew dictionary).
Then I draw. Whatever comes to my mind as I think about the verse, I draw. I found that this works very quickly at getting the verse into my heart and mind! And... it's FUN!
I do all of this in an unlined journal.
Another thing that helps me in my reading is to switch versions from time to time to keep it fresh.
Kay... What fantastic ways to saturate yourself in the Word. It sounds like it really works for you. Those gifted in (or moved by) art will, of course, find that the Word speaks through this venue. I believe musicians would say the same of how spending time with the Lord is greatly complemented by singing, playing instruments, or mixing tracks of music.
And the use of a Hebrew (for the Old Testament) and Greek (for the New Testament) is a great way to expand our understanding of the Scriptures.
AND, of course, you're a writer, so paraphrasing or writing down your thoughts about what you're reading is second nature to you. If I may add to that, while I'm reading, I like to interact with the Lord in prayer-journaling or spoken-asking Him questions about what I've just read. Sometimes, if the understanding doesn't fully come, I'll even complain. "Why? Why can't I get this right now, Lord?" And either He enlightens me, or I move on, knowing that He will provide the meaning when I'm ready, or when I need it.
Last, but not least, switching versions of the Scriptures is something I do too. One tool specifically designed for that is The Parallel Bible.
Thank you, Kay for your input today. Anyone else?
I like to listen to the Bible on tape while I drive.
My new car doesn't have a tape player so I need to upgrade my Bible to CD. I wonder if they have the Bible available on IPod?
Like Kay, I like to hand write key verses in my journal. Then I take key words and look them up in Greek and cross reference in scripture. Many times it ends up in a devotional.
Jan... Listening to the Word on CD is a great way to saturate ourselves with His presence. (Get that CD set, btw :-) And again, you mentioned the key words in Greek. Perfect for the New Testament.
Devotions are typically life application anecdotes regarding certain portions of Scripture. A great way to help others apply the Word to their lives if you're a writer, but also a way to help increase our own understanding if we pen the devotions ourselves.
Thank you, Jan, for another way to saturate ourselves in God's presence.
I wish I could come across as all spiritual, but I'm one who has a hard time with the saturation thing. Mine comes in bursts.
Some of my "alternative" methods of getting that Truth exposure are, talking to Him in my head, and listening to music that cuts through me with Biblical accuracy.
The other thing is taking to the Booger about God. Yesterday we hiked through South Valley Open Space in Ken Caryl (behind the hogback). We talked about how God made the mountains, the rocks, the trees, mud and dog poop. Kyle was in awe. "Mommy, God made that bug? An another?" I told him yes, and don't let anyone tell you any different. Does that count?
B/c of my physical challenge of attending to tasks, I require structure. Like a Bible study. But then, in a spurt, I finish a weeks worth of lessons in one day over two hours!
Maybe I need to stop beating myself up b/c my methodology looks different than most. I don't fit the standard mold.
Truth be told, I don't do anything the normal way! Even my approach to the whole writing thing differs from the usual.
Darcie, mine comes in spurts, too. Some days I do good to read a devo. Other days I spend a lot of time in the Bible using my dictionaries and commentaries, other days I do good to get out of bed and not yell at my kids.
I usually put my Bible Study homework off, too and get it done in one sitting.
I don't think it really matters how or when or even how often. But just that we DO. And Why.
Darcie and Kay... And that's why we're doing this blog together. We all experience circumstances in our lives that prevent or delay what we REALLY want our quiet-time with the Lord to look like. And beating ourselves up over things we can't attain for the moment - if ever - offers us no consolation.
Darcie... I love the fact that you brought up music. So much of today's worship music speaks VOLUMES of Scripture. Music has worked wonders in my saturating time. In fact, it was only 2 days ago that my heart was just worship challenged. I wanted to praise God with ALL of me. I went to www.Youtube.com and searched for Kari Jobe. Her music just takes me there. It just does. Powerful and Scripture-laden. As far as prayers in your head... Meditation on Scriptures you've memorized; or praise, you can do this all silently. Absolutely.
Kay... I love this statement you made: "I don't think it really matters how or when or even how often. But just that we DO. And Why."
You ladies have summed it up so well. Thank you for sharing.
In the last two years or so, His Word has meant so much more to me. Being in trial after trial, it was the Word that caused me to focus on what He said to me rather than, what my circumstances looked like. Now that definitely doesn't mean I haven't had my doubts. I have had many! But He kept bringing me back over and over to the same Scriptures. There were months that I didn't leave the Psalms. He never got angry with me or lost his patience with me.
Just tonight He reminded me that we would build houses and plant vineyards through His Word. Our home isn't settled as of today. I am pretty sure it will be sometime next week. We have had delay after delay and storm after storm in building this home. But I know that our home will be a place of new business and of ministry. So, the enemy has been very faithful to throw everything at us to stop the building of it, to completing it, to closing the deal. I have found great comfort and faith to keep pressing on in His word.
His Word gives me the strength to go on, especially when mine is all gone. :)
That's my two cents worth...
Oh Tonya... Thank you for posting. You've carried a lot on your shoulders this past couple of years, and it's during these times that God's Word took on the roll of "lifeline" for you and your family.
Psalms is an excellent choice for those suffering life's trials (and all of us do at one point or another), and also a treasure for Scripture memorization. When the Lord draws you back to certain Scriptures over and over again, you will probably, by default, memorize the content. Remember, the Word is alive, sharper than a two-edge sword. The Word works on our behalf-always.
Why?
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1 (NIV)
I think we'll call this default memorization. "spontaneous saturation." From parched to saturated in as long as it takes to declare His Word either aloud or in the recesses of our minds.
Tonya, thank you again for sharing here. I'm praying for you and your family.
I visited a church several months ago where the pastor had asked the congregation to join him in fasting for one month. His fast, however, was not from food but rather from watching TV, movies and listening to the radio. While I didn't agree that it was necessary to completely unplug from the world, I saw his point in realizing that our minds get so full of clutter that we find it difficult and sometimes even impossible to truly be still and listen to God and commune with Him. Your post has reminded me that I need to be creative in finding ways to turn down the day-to-day "noise" so that I can better focus on the Savior.
Sharon... Thank you for your input. Indeed, our world is full of noise. I agree--and this is another way of Linger-ing--that if we turned off some of the noise around us sometimes, our hearts and minds would better focused on Him throughout the day.
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